B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 22,477 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Block during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 0.5 %

Block stock opened at $92.26 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $94.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.83 and a 200 day moving average of $68.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,283 shares of company stock worth $862,773 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.